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There was nothing left to say. Pauline said abruptly: ‘Thank you, Madam President,’ and hung up.
She looked around the table. They had all heard the conversation. She said: ‘Our strategy for dealing with the Korea crisis has now collapsed. The north has attacked and lost, and the south is determined to invade. My peace conference has died before it could be born. President No is planning a giant swerve in world politics.’
She paused, making sure the gravity of the predicament had time to sink in. Then she turned to practical details.
‘Bill, I want you to take the morning conference in the White House press-briefing room today.’ Schneider looked reluctant, but she wanted a man in uniform. ‘Sandip Chakraborty will be with you.’ She almost addedto hold your handbut stopped herself. ‘Say that we were prepared for the attack and fought it off with minimum damage. Give them as much military detail as you can: numbers of missiles fired, enemy planes downed, military casualties, civilian casualties. You can say that I was in touch with the presidents of China and South Korea throughout the night, but don’t answer any political questions; tell them that the situation is still unclear and, anyway, you’re just a simple soldier.’
‘Very good, ma’am.’
‘With luck we now have a few hours to reflect. Everyone, please get your deputies into this room and go off and get some rest while East Asia is sleeping. I’m going to take a shower. We meet again this evening, when it’s dawn in Korea.’
She stood up, and the others all did the same. She caught a look from Gus and realized he wanted to accompany her, but she thought it a bad idea to favour him too obviously, so she looked away and left the room.
She returned to the Residence and showered. She felt refreshed but tired; she was desperate for sleep. However, first she sat on the edge of the bed in her towelling bathrobe and called Pippa to ask how the holiday was going.
‘The traffic was terrible last night and we took two hours getting here!’ Pippa said.
‘Bummer,’ said Pauline.
‘But then we all had supper and that was fun. This morning, Josephine and I went for an early ride.’
‘What horse did you have?’
‘A nice little pony called Parsley, lively but obedient.’
‘Perfect.’
‘Then Dad drove us into Middleburg to buy pumpkin pies and guess who we ran into? Ms Judd!’
Pauline had a cold feeling in the pit of her stomach. So Gerry had arranged a rendezvous with his lover at Thanksgiving. Boston had not been merely a one-night stand, after all. ‘Well, well,’ she said, forcing a cheerful tone of voice. But she could not help adding: ‘What a coincidence!’ She hoped Pippa did not detect the sarcasm.
Pippa seemed oblivious. ‘Turns out she’s spending the holiday with a friend who has a winery not far from Middleburg. So Dad had coffee with old Judders while Jo and I shopped for pies. Now we’re heading back and we’re going to help Jo’s mom stuff the turkey.’
‘I’m so glad you’re having a good time.’ Pauline realized she had sounded a bit down.
Pippa was young but she had female instincts, and Pauline’s faintly depressed tone reminded her that her mother was not having a holiday. She said: ‘Hey, what’s happening in Korea?’
‘I’m trying to stop the war.’
‘Wow. Should we all be worried?’
‘Leave it to me. I’ll do the worrying for everyone.’
‘Do you want to talk to Daddy?’
‘Not if he’s driving.’
‘Yes, he’s driving.’
‘Give him my love.’
‘Sure thing.’
‘Goodbye, honey.’
‘Bye, Mom.’
Pauline hung up with a bad taste in her mouth.
